A few days ago, technology blog Valleywag's launched its Apple Tablet Scavenger Hunt, a sort-of contest in which people with evidence of the existence of Apple's much-rumoured tablet could win large sums of money. Apple apparently wasn't amused, as the company resorted to its usual tactic whenever it doesn't like something in the press: litigation, litigation, litigation.

Not sure if this is a viral marketing strategy or not, but I got to thinking about Apple and their so-called negative PR. The thing is, Apple only really have negative PR in the tech community which, imho, is well-deserved. However, most people outside of the tech community never hear about these stunts, or the problems with the app store for example. And further, they don't really seem to care. When it comes down to the larger market outside of the tech world, Apple actually have a very good image. I think sometimes we forget that those of us who read this site are geeks, and pay more attention to what's going on from a tech point of view. As such, sometimes our idea of who has good or bad PR is a bit skewed.

The thing is, Apple only really have negative PR in the tech community which, imho, is well-deserved. However, most people outside of the tech community never hear about these stunts, or the problems with the app store for example. And further, they don't really seem to care.

Well, they might start caring if the *software developers* in the tech community stop writing software for Apple products...

Or maybe not, who knows - maybe Apple's plan all along was to be the exclusive software developer for their own products, and that's what Apple users want as well?

Yes, they might start caring then, but it's a little like the way most people seem to treat their Antivirus software. They don't care until they get a virus. By then, of course, it's usually too late to get rid of the problem easily.

Well, they might start caring if the *software developers* in the tech community stop writing software for Apple products...

The thing is, developers (in general) don't care too much about the politics, if they did, there would be a lot less software on Windows, that's for sure...

If there is money to be made, then the iPhone, iTouch and iSlate will all get a swag of software written for it. When it comes to commercial software, it's the mighty $ (which can be equated to market share) that shines the way. Apple, MS and others all know this, so they can have as much negative press as they like.

The Linux world is a different place, one for the tech-hippies, but those days will end soon enough as the market share goes up...